Gone West: bobmrg

Pilawt

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Pilawt
Found this on another message board today ...

Bob Gardner, author of The Complete Pilot Series from ASA and a long-admired member of the aviation community, passed away on October 7, 2021. A wealth of knowledge and a great author to work with, Bob had an amazing aviation career that he matched to very entertaining stories. He cared a lot about his work and was constantly working to make improvements to his books and teaching. Bob remained engaged in the aviation education community and kept his technical savvy going strong. Above and beyond this, he was just a hoot to talk to, generous with his wealth of knowledge, and a real pleasure to work with.

His flying career began as a hobby in Alaska in 1960 while in the U.S. Coast Guard. By 1966, Bob earned his Private Land and Sea, Commercial, Instrument, Instructor, CFII, and MEL. Over the next 16 years he was an instructor, charter pilot, corporate and freight captain, and director of ASA Ground Schools. He held an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with Single and Multi-Engine Land ratings; a CFI certificate with Instrument and Multi-Engine Land ratings; and a Ground Instructor's Certificate with Advanced and Instrument ratings. Bob was also a Gold Seal Instructor, well-known author, journalist, and airshow lecturer.

Bob will be greatly missed by the ASA team and the aviation community to which he devoted so much of his life.

 
Just saw the announcement from ASA.

He will definitely be missed
 
That is very sad news. Bob was a great friend on the boards. He helped me with some customer service issues with ASA which he really didn't have to do. When I found a typo in one of his books, he sent me another as a gift.
 
Sad to hear of this. We’re losing too many lately… :(

Blue Skies @bobmrg!
 
I was always impressed with the timely knowledge Bob could impart around here, even in his 90's.

Godspeed to eternal CAVU days, sir!
 
So sorry to hear this. I never met him, but 'Say Again, Please' is a book I re-read every couple of years. It is an excellent reference, and I loved how he would drop in on the forums to share even more of his knowledge.
 
Very sad to see. He was a great guy. Blue skies and tailwinds, Bob.
 
I have used his multi-engine book for years, as I think it's the best out there for telling you what you need to know and getting to the point.

I knew he had to be getting up there in years, but he still participated in several forums, it was great to see his input!
 
Tailwinds, Bob. You will be missed.

Does anyone know how old he was? I’m guessing around 80 (plus or minus a bit) based on the memorial/article above?
 
Wow. Sad to hear. Got his book during my PPL training, helped a lot. He was a great contributor to POA. I didn’t realize he was an “old guy” until a couple years ago.
 
I appreciated him very much. Will miss him.
 
This sucks. Never met him. Have read his radio book several times. Just from the writing style he seemed like a good guy.
 
Oh my.His posting here was always appreciated and I just liked one from 2009. We will miss you, Bob!
 
Sorry to hear this. I’ve used some of his books and always appreciated his contributions here. 92 is a pretty good run. R.I.P., Bob.
 
Sad to hear, I always enjoyed his contributions.
 
Thanks for letting us know, Jeff. I had not seen the news. I have at least one of his books, and always appreciated his input here and on other forums. Very helpful, nice guy.
 
Thanks for letting us know. Just the other day I was googling Bob because I noticed he hadn’t posted since June and hadn’t been online since September.

Bob has been around the aviation forums as long as there have been aviation forums (and maybe on the Usenet groups too? I can’t remember) and has always been generous to share his knowledge freely. He was truly one of the good guys; I don’t remember anyone ever getting into a piszing match with Bob.

We’ll never know which post will be our last so I guess we should strive to be like Bob and focus on making all of them helpful and useful.
 
Facing west, a drink held high: fair winds, Mr. Gardner.

You’ll not be forgotten.
 
Always appreciated his knowledgeable contributions. At 92/93, it sounds like he had a pretty good run.
 
I believe this was his last post here. Very fitting - educational to the end! (The thread was about carb ice forming.)

Fun experiment: Take a can of soda out of the cooler and walk directly to the ramp and set it it down. Wait 30 seconds. The amount of water that what you thought was dry air that
forms on its surface will scare you to death.
 
So sorry to hear this. I never met him, but 'Say Again, Please' is a book I re-read every couple of years. It is an excellent reference, and I loved how he would drop in on the forums to share even more of his knowledge.
That is a great book!
 
Bob always had a kind word and a suggestion where he could help. It's funny, at some point in the last few weeks I randomly thought of him, specifically of his radio communications book. Godspeed, Bob.
 
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